The Third Way Reconfigured

How and Why Nonprofit Organizations are Shifting Their Human Resource Management

authored by

Hans Gerd Ridder, Erk P. Piening, Alina Mc Candless Baluch

Abstract

Nonprofit organizations (NPOs) are facing increasing demands to become more efficient and effective, especially given increasing financial cutbacks, the rising demand for services and the push toward performance-related management. Human resource management (HRM) is claimed to play an important role in coping with these challenges. Yet, within the field of nonprofit management, little is known about the configuration of HR architectures in NPOs, let alone their impact on performance. To bridge this gap, we conduct an exploratory multiple case study in ten health and social services NPOs. The case study data indicates a shift toward a dominant strategic orientation in the configuration of HRM. Our article makes a central contribution by uncovering a third way in which NPOs seek a specific configuration of HRM to confront the challenges they face in their internal and external environments.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Human Resource Management and Organizational Behavior

Type

Article

Journal

VOLUNTAS

Volume

23

Pages

605-635

No. of pages

31

ISSN

0957-8765

Publication date

09.2012

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Business and International Management, Sociology and Political Science, Public Administration, Strategy and Management

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-011-9219-z (Access: Closed)